Bees boss Lee Burch is looking for his side to learn from Wednesday night’s Conti Cup defeat at the hands of WSL side Brighton and Hove Albion.
The Seagulls showed the quality of a professional outfit with a ruthless second-half showing after the Bees had more than matched them in the opening 45 minutes. However, four second-half goals from the visitors saw them run out five-nil winners on the night.
Despite the heavy defeat Burch was in a reflective mood and wanted his side to take lessons from the cup defeat.
“We had a massive chance to go ahead in the first half through Brooke (Nunn) and it was probably the best opening for either side in that first half, however, we didn’t take it and then we find ourselves a goal behind at the break”
“When you’re the second-tier side you have to have that bit of luck and we didn’t quite get that at times. Their third goal is a cross that loops over everyone, but you have to give Brighton credit because they are a quality side.”
“We will learn lessons from playing against this type of side and we need to put this behind us to focus on a big game against Charlton on Sunday”
One of the positives from the evening was the senior debut of Mathilda Finburgh who as she became the next player to make the step up from the Bees academy.
Burch was delighted to be able to hand the young midfielder some first-team action and believes there is plenty more to come from Finburgh in the future.
“It was nice to get her out on the pitch and give her some first-team experience and I thought she did well with the minutes that she played”
“To bring her on in this type of game means she has experience against the very best and therefore when she plays in the Championship it won’t be as daunting for her”
“The academy set up that we have here is second to none, there are plenty of girls coming through who I think can become top players, the future of the Club is in good hands”
Moving on from the defeat, the Bees take on Charlton Atheltic in Championship action this Sunday at The Hive, knowing that they can close the gap on the top four with a victory.
We took on the Addicks in cup action a couple of weeks ago, with the Bees winning on a penalty shootout following an intense goalless draw.
Burch feels that his side would have learnt a lot from that previous encounter and feels we will be in a better place for Sunday’s encounter.
“We would have learnt a lot about them from our previous game with them. We made quite a few changes that day and it will be a different type of side that takes to the pitch Sunday”
“I am sure it’ll be another entertaining match, they are a good side and like to play football as we do. We will bounce back on Sunday with a good performance and hopefully, the result will follow”